As my friend, Brandon would say, “let’s face the facts here.” Creating photorealistic art is not easy. Whether you’re drawing, painting, or sculpting, I personally consider photorealism to be the ultimate art challenge and mastery of an artistic skill.
Since we spend so much of our time taking the world in through our eyes, it seems like we should have an endless database of images to choose from. However, I find unless you’re one of the few people blessed with a true photographic memory, there’s quite a bit more involved. Sure we see a lot of things, but when was the last time you really put energy into looking at something? That’s what I thought.
The number one, extra special, top-secret about photorealistic drawing involves absolutely no drawing. If you want to draw realism or even semi-realism, the most important skill to practice, first, last, and above all is observation.
That’s right, I said it, observation! You can’t recreate something until you know what it looks like. Remember when I asked you about the last time you really looked at something? This is an activity you’re definitely going to want to take up & I promise it will completely change the game.
5 Tips for Practicing Observational Drawing
Shape
Our world is three-dimensional. Even very tiny, or very thin items have some dimension. The image you’re going to put down on paper will be two-dimensional, but in order to make it look real, you’ll have to adjust your drawing to simulate its form.
Consider this. If you look at a chair in real life, it will look different from every angle. You probably haven’t thought much about this, after all, it’s still a chair. However, if you took 10 photos of that chair all from different angles and traced the outline, the two-dimensional shapes would be different in every image. Those shapes and the angle from which you chose to draw them will play a huge role in making your art look realistic.
Let’s do an exercise. Sit down and look around the room. Pick an item and write down every detail you can come up with about its shape. Now keep looking at that item but move around the room. Sit down somewhere else & repeat the last step. How does your new perspective change the shape or angle of that item? Try getting closer, then farther away. Get a step ladder and look down on it, then lay on the floor, and look up at it. Spending time deeply observing from a variety of perspectives will help you understand shapes and forms and make it easier for you to recreate them in your artwork.
Light
Light, or rather, the way light hits the items around us plays a huge role in making them look real. Often things may seem to have lines, but in reality, it’s just a place where the light hits a shadow on the item. A round item will react to light differently than a cube-shaped item. Something made out of a matte material will interact with light differently than something made out of chrome.
Consider this. If you look at a tree from far away, you will get an idea of how the light is interacting with it as a whole. But, the closer you get, you start to realize that the light hits every single leaf, branch, and bark shaving differently. Due to the organic nature of trees, no two will be the same. This light can also change minute by minute as the sun rises and sets, or clouds come in to block and filter the light. Taking note of every minute detail will help you formulate a clear image.
Try this exercise. Pick something in the room and stare at it for a while. Write down every detail about where there are highlights, where there are shadows, and where there are variations in between. Note which lines are part of the item and which are shadows meeting light. Now change the light in the room, close the blinds and turn on a lamp and do this exercise again to see how the new lighting changed the appearance. Repeat this exercise with different items made from different materials and note the results.
Texture
Texture is a big part of what makes the things around us unique and identifiable. From the fur on your dog to the bark on the tree outside your window. When it comes time to render these items, the texture is very important.
Consider some pups (as if you weren’t already doing that.) There’s a huge difference between the fur of a poodle (fluffy and curly,) a golden retriever (long & wavy,) and a pit bull (short, smooth, & shiny). The secret to drawing any and all fur is a million tiny lines. The trick to drawing any and all fur is taking the time to OBSERVE how each of those lines interacts with one another. The patterns they make, how they interact with light, how they bundle or change direction, even the subtle shadows created by other pieces of fur. If you can observe all of those details you’ll be on your way to drawing your favorite furry friends.
For this exercise, go out and take a walk. Focus on the textures you see on your way. I’m using a tree again because “let’s face the facts here” there’s a lot going on with trees. How does the bark on the tree look close up? What does it look like if you walk 10 ft away? If you pick up a leaf can you see all of the veins and spots on that leaf? If you look up at the tree it fell from, can you see the new texture the leaves create when together as a whole? Go ahead and walk across the street. How does that change the way the leaves and the tree look? What happens when you shine a light on it? Take note of all of these details.
Color
Color is something that seems obvious. Oh, the fire hydrant is red, the grass is green the sky is blue. But is that enough information to recreate that item accurately? What shade of blue is the sky? How many different colors are in the clouds? Is every blade of grass the same shade of green? Our brains love to simplify data, but this will not serve you when you’re attempting observational drawing. There are so many factors involved in the colors of three-dimensional items. To begin with, how many colors or shades are naturally a part of that object? For example, my bunny, The Reaper, is black. When I look really closely, it’s clear that her fur contains shades of grey, brown, and even coppers. Now that we’ve observed her natural colors, we have to roll back to tip 2 and consider how the light changes the way her natural colors appear. What color is the brightest highlight? What color is the darkest shadow? If you change the color of the light or bring her outside, what does that do?
For this exercise, go out and find a fire hydrant. Take a long, hard, look at that fire hydrant. At a glance, it’s just red. How does the red where the sun is hitting it differ from the red in the parts that are in shadow? Are there places where the paint is chipping? What color is happening there? Was part of the paint faded by the long-term wear from the sun? If you want to take on a bonus challenge, bring your materials with you and try to match the colors you see. If one color doesn’t work on its own, figure out what you need to mix it with to create the perfect shade.
Puzzles
This is my final and favorite tip! Do jigsaw puzzles and USE THE BOX. Study every inch of the picture. Observe all of the things we were looking for before. Zero in on the shape of the piece, the color, and texture of the picture and use this information to find the right place. If you have a piece with pink flowers, search the picture for pink flowers and find the exact place in the picture that piece belongs. As much as this might seem like a waste of time, this is my favorite way to practice observation and it’s one of my all-time favorite activities. I know, I’m a nerd. Not sorry.
In Summary
Being able to truly see the world is a vital first step in being able to create your own. Even after all of this observational practice, I highly suggest using high-quality photos to draw from when creating photorealistic art. If you have to use the grid method to drill down into the details, do it. If you want to move on to something pulled out of your imagination, all of these details will help make your world believable. When it comes down to it, taking the time to focus and take a deeper look will bring your work to the next level so go forth and observe!
What’s your favorite way to practice observation?